It's Our Time to Shine
Going Rollerblading.
Bert and I were still sitting on the see-saw, going up and down while not saying a word.
Silence was our middle man, and we couldn’t care less.
It was our thing.
The green grass around us was still wet after the warm summer rain had poured down about half an hour ago, and now, the sun was once again showing itself behind the dark clouds.
The sunshine licked me in the face as the see-saw took me up, making me stretch up to the sky to get closer to the warm and glowing sun.
“Hey”, Bert started in a soft voice before stopping the see-saw for a second. “Wanna go and see if the guys are at the parking lot?”
“Sure”, I responded, for then to jump off.
“Whoa!”
“Oh, sorry! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a hard landing from dropping down on the ground”, he giggled, grinning as he got off the see-saw.
We left Scera Park and started walking down the streets and towards the parking lot where Quinn, Jepha and Dan supposedly were rollerblading.
“I gotta call ‘em just to hear if they’re still there so we don’t show up and the parking lot’s empty. Just gotta – hey, where’s my cell?”, Bert asked, before he started going through his pockets to look for his cell phone.
“I don’t know”, I responded while looking at him.
“Oh, now I remember! I left it in your hoodie. Lemme see…”
And before I knew it, he started body searching me.
“Ahaha!”, I burst out, laughing as Bert suddenly tickled me stomach on his way of finding his cell.
“Sorry, didn’t know you were ticklish. Oh, found it. It was in your middle pocket.”
He smiled as he took out his cell phone, making me blush while I thought about my ridiculous outburst.
He dialed what I think was Jepha’s number before we slowly started walking down the street and towards the parking lot again.
“Hey, Jeph, it’s me. Are you guys still at the parking lot? Ahh, good. Me n’ Lina will be there in a couple of minutes. Yeah, bye. ”
“Are they still there?”, I asked, putting my hands inside the my hoodie’s wide middle pockets.
“Yeah. It’s just around the corner over here, so it’s not that far”, Bert explained.
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Have you ever rollerbladed before?”, he then asked, looking over at me with a curious smile.
“Have I ever! My dad bought me a pair of rollerblades when I was about 12. He enjoyed watching me so much that he bought himself a pair so he could join me. I was what you can call a street champion back then. We used to blade together before, but it’s been years since we last did it. He doesn’t have time anymore, so I don’t care.”
I couldn’t help sounding disappointed.
Because I really was.
“Man, that sucks. I’m sorry, babe. But, hey, I’ll blade with you anytime! We’ll just borrow some pairs from the guys. There they are, by the way”, Bert said as we got to the parking lot where we saw them rollerblading.
“Hey, guys!”, Jepha grinned as he saw us coming towards them.
“Hey, dude. Uhm, your blades – which size are they?”
“9”, he answered.
“And what about you, Quinn?”, Bert asked.
“8½”
“That’ll work! Hey, is it okay if Lina could borrow ‘em for a while?”
“Yeah, totally. My feet are starting to fuckin´ kill me”, he replied as he came towards us and began taking the rollerblades off.
“I gotta use Dan’s blades ‘cause Jeph’s are too small. Dan’s got bigger feet than me, anyway, but it’s better that they’re a little too big than a little too small, right?”
Bert looked at me with a smile while he was putting on the rollerblades, obviously having trouble with the laces.
“Yeah, it is”, I answered, putting on Quinn’s rollerblades which were too big for my feet too.
“Okay, I’m all set. Are you?”
“Yep.”
Then let’s go!, he said, immediately kicking off to increase his speed.
I early noticed that it had been a while since I last rollerbladed due to the fact that I wasn’t able to go straight and I had trouble holding my balance.
“Hey, let’s go to the ramp!”, Bert squealed, rolling towards the wooden ramp across the parking lot about 200 feet away.
Jepha followed him, making me almost fall down as he quickly rolled pass me on his way to Bert.
“Sorry!”, he said, before receiving my assuring yet awkward smile.
Man, I really sucked at this. The fact that I’d been a street champion during my good old days was now just a faded and embarrassing memory.
“Hey, Lina! Are you coming?”, Bert yelled from the ramp where now he and Jepha were about to do some tricks.
“Yes, I’m coming”, I replied. Trying to keep my balance and praying for the wind to give me a little push from behind so I didn’t have to kick to increase my speed myself.
After about a minute of being petrified of falling, I finally got to the ramp.
It didn’t take long before I was back on track and felt comfortable rollerblading.
We all span around the parking lot, doing tricks and seeing which one of us who could perform the best trick.
Quinn was talking on his cell phone, something he always seemed to be doing while having nothing to do.
There, he was hiding behind some trash cans. Private phone call indeed.
“Man, my feet hurt”, Jepha suddenly complained, now sitting down on the ground.
“Yeah, mine too”, Bert agreed.
“Maybe we should call it a day, then?”
“Yeah, it’s getting´ late now and dinner’s probably coming up soon too. Mom came home from church hours ago. Or what do you think, Lina? Wanna go home?”, Bert asked, standing behind me.
As I was about to turn around to face him after looking at Jepha whom was sitting on the ground, I suddenly lost control and felt my feet disappearing under me.
“Woah!”, Bert burst out as he suddenly saw me falling, immediately stretching out his arms and making me fall into them.
“Thank you”, I said, feeling my breath getting short and shocked by the fact that I’d almost fallen flat on the ground.
“Yeah, I think we better call it for today”, Jepha grinned as he got up from the ground.
I looked up at Bert, seeing his eyes meeting mine as I gave him a grateful smile, thanking him for not letting me fall.
He just smiled back at me and carefully stroked my cheek before the both of us choked a giggle…
Silence was our middle man, and we couldn’t care less.
It was our thing.
The green grass around us was still wet after the warm summer rain had poured down about half an hour ago, and now, the sun was once again showing itself behind the dark clouds.
The sunshine licked me in the face as the see-saw took me up, making me stretch up to the sky to get closer to the warm and glowing sun.
“Hey”, Bert started in a soft voice before stopping the see-saw for a second. “Wanna go and see if the guys are at the parking lot?”
“Sure”, I responded, for then to jump off.
“Whoa!”
“Oh, sorry! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a hard landing from dropping down on the ground”, he giggled, grinning as he got off the see-saw.
We left Scera Park and started walking down the streets and towards the parking lot where Quinn, Jepha and Dan supposedly were rollerblading.
“I gotta call ‘em just to hear if they’re still there so we don’t show up and the parking lot’s empty. Just gotta – hey, where’s my cell?”, Bert asked, before he started going through his pockets to look for his cell phone.
“I don’t know”, I responded while looking at him.
“Oh, now I remember! I left it in your hoodie. Lemme see…”
And before I knew it, he started body searching me.
“Ahaha!”, I burst out, laughing as Bert suddenly tickled me stomach on his way of finding his cell.
“Sorry, didn’t know you were ticklish. Oh, found it. It was in your middle pocket.”
He smiled as he took out his cell phone, making me blush while I thought about my ridiculous outburst.
He dialed what I think was Jepha’s number before we slowly started walking down the street and towards the parking lot again.
“Hey, Jeph, it’s me. Are you guys still at the parking lot? Ahh, good. Me n’ Lina will be there in a couple of minutes. Yeah, bye. ”
“Are they still there?”, I asked, putting my hands inside the my hoodie’s wide middle pockets.
“Yeah. It’s just around the corner over here, so it’s not that far”, Bert explained.
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Have you ever rollerbladed before?”, he then asked, looking over at me with a curious smile.
“Have I ever! My dad bought me a pair of rollerblades when I was about 12. He enjoyed watching me so much that he bought himself a pair so he could join me. I was what you can call a street champion back then. We used to blade together before, but it’s been years since we last did it. He doesn’t have time anymore, so I don’t care.”
I couldn’t help sounding disappointed.
Because I really was.
“Man, that sucks. I’m sorry, babe. But, hey, I’ll blade with you anytime! We’ll just borrow some pairs from the guys. There they are, by the way”, Bert said as we got to the parking lot where we saw them rollerblading.
“Hey, guys!”, Jepha grinned as he saw us coming towards them.
“Hey, dude. Uhm, your blades – which size are they?”
“9”, he answered.
“And what about you, Quinn?”, Bert asked.
“8½”
“That’ll work! Hey, is it okay if Lina could borrow ‘em for a while?”
“Yeah, totally. My feet are starting to fuckin´ kill me”, he replied as he came towards us and began taking the rollerblades off.
“I gotta use Dan’s blades ‘cause Jeph’s are too small. Dan’s got bigger feet than me, anyway, but it’s better that they’re a little too big than a little too small, right?”
Bert looked at me with a smile while he was putting on the rollerblades, obviously having trouble with the laces.
“Yeah, it is”, I answered, putting on Quinn’s rollerblades which were too big for my feet too.
“Okay, I’m all set. Are you?”
“Yep.”
Then let’s go!, he said, immediately kicking off to increase his speed.
I early noticed that it had been a while since I last rollerbladed due to the fact that I wasn’t able to go straight and I had trouble holding my balance.
“Hey, let’s go to the ramp!”, Bert squealed, rolling towards the wooden ramp across the parking lot about 200 feet away.
Jepha followed him, making me almost fall down as he quickly rolled pass me on his way to Bert.
“Sorry!”, he said, before receiving my assuring yet awkward smile.
Man, I really sucked at this. The fact that I’d been a street champion during my good old days was now just a faded and embarrassing memory.
“Hey, Lina! Are you coming?”, Bert yelled from the ramp where now he and Jepha were about to do some tricks.
“Yes, I’m coming”, I replied. Trying to keep my balance and praying for the wind to give me a little push from behind so I didn’t have to kick to increase my speed myself.
After about a minute of being petrified of falling, I finally got to the ramp.
It didn’t take long before I was back on track and felt comfortable rollerblading.
We all span around the parking lot, doing tricks and seeing which one of us who could perform the best trick.
Quinn was talking on his cell phone, something he always seemed to be doing while having nothing to do.
There, he was hiding behind some trash cans. Private phone call indeed.
“Man, my feet hurt”, Jepha suddenly complained, now sitting down on the ground.
“Yeah, mine too”, Bert agreed.
“Maybe we should call it a day, then?”
“Yeah, it’s getting´ late now and dinner’s probably coming up soon too. Mom came home from church hours ago. Or what do you think, Lina? Wanna go home?”, Bert asked, standing behind me.
As I was about to turn around to face him after looking at Jepha whom was sitting on the ground, I suddenly lost control and felt my feet disappearing under me.
“Woah!”, Bert burst out as he suddenly saw me falling, immediately stretching out his arms and making me fall into them.
“Thank you”, I said, feeling my breath getting short and shocked by the fact that I’d almost fallen flat on the ground.
“Yeah, I think we better call it for today”, Jepha grinned as he got up from the ground.
I looked up at Bert, seeing his eyes meeting mine as I gave him a grateful smile, thanking him for not letting me fall.
He just smiled back at me and carefully stroked my cheek before the both of us choked a giggle…
♠ ♠ ♠
a cheek stroke?what does that mean, people?
a friendly gesture?
-wiggles eyebrows suggestivly.-
the options are many. ;]
oh, and while i'm at it;
the story, The Biggest Fan, which is this story's prequel,
was first posted for exactly 6 months ago today!
that's half a year. isn't that awesome? ;D
all thanks to the used. <3
and you guys, of course. (:
xo,
lina.